When I Ran
by anniesmask
Summary: When Stephanie leaves, what happens when people want her back?
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fiction, as of this point I don't believe that there are any warnings, when I started I thought it would be smut but so far not. If that changes I will let you know. I don't own anything, wish I did then I could stay home and knit all day. The bold words are part of the October Babe Squad Challenge.

Thank you for reading my story.

I woke with the knowledge that something was not quite right. The feeling in the pit of my stomach was screaming at me. I barely had my eyes open enough to see a man silhouetted against the window before I was flipped onto my stomach, and my hands were being dragged to the small of my back. I opened my mouth to scream but found the corner of my pillow shoved in my mouth. The click of cuffs on my wrists caused my heart to stop beating. In that one moment; a million things came back to haunt me. My eyes filled with tears as I realized that I would never tell my family that I loved them, and I was sorry for being a disappointment to them. I closed my eyes as my thoughts turned to Ranger I loved him very much but I had never had the courage to say it out loud, and now I never would. The light over my head clicked on, but I didn't open my eyes, I didn't want to see the face of the person who would end my life. The biggest irony of all was that I had moved far away from my home, changed jobs, and had no contact with anyone from my previous life. That I would die this way, victim of a random (possibly) home invasion, robbery well it would prove my mother and Joe right after all these years.

A weight settled lightly across my back almost as if they wanted me to know I had no chance, but did not want to squish me. Gentle hands smoothed my hair into a ponytail holder, and then the faintest softest kiss whispered across the nape of my neck. I realized that I knew those lips. Just as I was about to open my eyes he whispered, "I'm sorry, Babe."

I felt something press against my arm, heard a buzzing noise and then my world went black.

Little fragments of conversation fluttered past my head, "When we find whoever caused her to run…" The rest faded before I could catch it. "…**After pain**…**oblivion**…" Still face down on my bed, I fought to the surface trying to pull my thoughts together enough to figure out what was happening. My struggle must have been obvious to the men around me. Soon a gentle hand settled in the middle of my back** "**Shh, **that will do Babe that will do**." Ranger's voice came from somewhere behind me. Closer to my feet than my head I thought.

My heart clenched at the sound of his voice. It had been many months since his voice had said anything other than hello to me. But worse than that, four months had passed since the last hello. Partially it was his fault, and partially it was mine. His because he gave up on me, mine because I ran to escape the pain. There was movement around the room; I heard drawers being open and the sound of cloth rubbing against cloth. I didn't understand and in the time that I had been out, a blindfold had been wrapped around my head. I tilted my head slightly hoping that the movement would give me an extra little oomph to figure out what they were looking for. It didn't, in fact all it really did was remind me of one of the unfortunate side effects I _enjoy _that are associated with being tased. Dizziness and nausea washed over me, and I fought to keep from embarrassing myself.

"It's alright Babe, everything is just fine," Ranger's voice came again trying to soothe me. I wanted to ask what was going on but the pillow was still in my mouth and I couldn't move my head far enough to remove it. "Just lie still a few more minutes Babe, and then we'll be done."

I wasn't sure if that was supposed to reassure me or not. The noises continued for a while longer, before gradually falling silent.

"Babe, I am going to roll you over and then lift you up, you need to not make any noise please." Ranger said. "We're going to go on a little trip. If you can't be quiet I will have to make sure you are silent. I would like to avoid that if at all possible. But..." and here his voice grew hard as steel "…I will do what is necessary."

I did my best to convey to him that I would keep my mouth shut, for now. Perhaps even after all this time, my signal to Batman was still going strong, or maybe he just knew that he had scared me silent with the menace in his voice, either way he pulled the pillow from my mouth before he rolled me over. Arms from the opposite side of Ranger's hands picked me up and cradled me to a warm, large chest. Even though I desperately wanted to know what would happen next, I kept my mouth shut. I had no desire to be thrown out the window with my hands cuffed.

I couldn't see, but I could sense the person carrying me walk toward my bedroom door, and continued out of my small apartment. Quickly and silently I was carried down the stairs and out of my building. I heard a car door open and then I was being placed on my side across a bench seat. Two sets of hands carefully and gently arranged me on the seat, and a seatbelt was pulled across my hips and locked into place. A soft kiss whispered across my forehead, and I heard Ranger sigh. My mouth opened to ask what was wrong, but he spoke before I could.

"I hate to do this Babe, but I have to." With that, he placed the taser against my shoulder and zapped me again.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own any of the characters and I am not making any money. Again bolded words are part of the October Babe Squad challenge.

The first thing I noticed as I fought back to consciousness was that while I was still lying on my side, my hands were not handcuffed behind my back anymore. I wondered about that for a few minutes, until I realized that whatever I was lying on was moving; it didn't sound or feel like a car. I guessed that we were in an airplane. It made sense that we would be in an airplane. I had gone to a lot of trouble to pick a place far from my former home of Trenton, New Jersey. After all what good did it do for me to leave if I could turn around and go home right away?

When I first decided to leave I planned to leave and not let anyone know. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that I needed help, and I couldn't leave my few remaining friends to worry about where I had disappeared to. With that realization, I called a girls night in, and explained my plans (such as they were at the time) and my reasoning. Connie, Lula and Mary Lou were very supportive of me. They knew what it had cost me to come to such a conclusion.

After a long night of discussing my options, and bantering ideas back and forth, we came to the conclusion that it would be best if I slowly made the transition from here to not here. We also decided that planting a false trail would help me to get further away and to stay away longer if somebody should decide to follow me. My to do list after that first meeting was long and overwhelming but I started at the top and managed to find what I needed and stick to my plan.

The plan was fairly simple and yet pretty thorough. First thing on the list; I would start coming into the office one day less a week until I was only coming in twice a week. This would help my disappearance look more gradual. Also I would find an apartment in a neighboring town but not too close to Trenton. With the help of Connie's family connections, I would get a job out of state. It would only be temporary, but it would get me by for a month or so after I left Trenton. After the month was passed I would move on and no-one in Trenton (even the girls) would know exactly where I was. The girls weren't very happy with that condition but they realized if they didn't know they wouldn't be tempted to blurt it out in passing. I would call each of them once every two weeks so that they would know that I was still doing okay. That way I would know what was going on at home as well.

It was almost a full six months from the day that we put the plan into action to the day that I unpacked the last of my things in my newest and hopefully last new apartment for a very long time. I had a job, not only that it was a good job working as an office manager for a small law firm in a big city. Why a big city? Because I needed to be able to blend in, my accent might give me away in a small city but not in Vegas. In Vegas, there is a whole world of diversity and I would be just one of the crowd who moved there to follow their dreams. In my dreams I wasn't the laughing stock screw-up that I was made to feel like in Trenton. The injustice of it all was that I may not have done things in a so-called "normal" fashion but I had one hell of a capture record.

I realized that reminiscing right now might not be the best plan. If I was going to figure out where I was, and how to get back to the place I now considered home I would need to be very aware of my surroundings. Taking stock I realized that while I was not handcuffed at all, I was still blindfolded. That didn't make much sense to me until I reached up to remove the blindfold and my hands were caught and held by strong masculine ones.

"No Babe, leave it there." Ranger's voice came from right behind my head. "Are you hungry? I have a little snack for you."

"How am I supposed to eat if I can't see?" I asked my voice scratchy and a little angry.

"I will feed you." Ranger answered me, "Until we have things figured out, I am not comfortable with you being able to see."

I tensed, and suddenly I was very angry, "You are not comfortable with me being able to see?" I demanded. "You came into my home and kidnapped me and you are not comfortable with me being able to see! Oh, and let's not forget how you keep stunning me. What gives you the right to treat me this way?" I was struggling now trying with all I had to escape his arms and the bed that held me captive. I managed to roll hard enough to get out of his arms but I ended up on the floor. Before I could stand up I was grabbed from behind; an arm wrapped around my middle holding my arms against my side. I lifted my leg to kick out at Ranger, at whoever held it didn't matter to me, I just wanted to hurt someone. I was so tired of being treated like my thoughts and concerns didn't matter. No longer would I let the men in my life steamroll over me, I refused to accept being treated like a whore.

"**Call yourself a whore again, **I dare you!" Ranger growled in front of me. **"and I'll make sure that the spanking you have yet to receive is nothing pleasant."**

"I did not call myself a whore; what I _said _was,I refuse to allow you or anyone else to treat me like one anymore." I yelled, and then I swung my foot, aiming blindly for Ranger voice. My foot was caught and held before I could make contact. "Damn it let me go!" I was beyond frustrated, and I was still in denial about most of the evenings events.

"So much for the hope that you would be reasonable and behave," Tank said in my ear.

I opened my mouth to issue a scathing retort as to what constituted reasonable behavior, but a hand covered my lips and the thumb hooked under my jaw preventing me from biting. The soft chuckles coming from both men, told me that I wouldn't win.

"I didn't want to have to keep you restrained on the plane, but you've given me no choice Babe." Ranger said as my hands were pulled behind my back and handcuffed again. I sighed but did not answer. Tank's arm tightened around my waist and I was lifted slightly off the ground and moved around. I was set back on the ground and turned around before Ranger's hands grabbed my waist and pulled me into his lap. A bottle was placed against my lips and I took a small tentative sip, the water that flowed into my mouth was cool and sweet. I heard a wrapper opening and realized for the first time how very hungry I was. I felt something brush against my lips, I took a bit of a turkey sandwich. When I was finished my face was gently cleaned with a damp washcloth, and I could feel myself getting sleepy. My head drooped and I tried to lift it but it was too heavy. Inside my brain I was screaming that they had drugged me, but I couldn't do anything more than groan faintly.

"Shh Babe; don't fight it everything will be okay. You are safe we won't hurt you, just sleep." Ranger whispered soothingly in my ear. I wanted quite desperately to fight, to stay awake, and to yell at them for doing this to me. Tears of weakness were seeping from my eyes as I lost my battle to stay awake.


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter is dedicated to my best friend Kitty, who has yet to succumb to the world of Plum and yet somehow helped me figure out which direction to take this chapter and reminded me that no matter what there is always room for a little smut. Also to my brand new niece Arizona you took your own sweet time getting here baby girl, but welcome to the world.

No warnings as of yet. Oh yeah I don't own them, darn it!

This time my return to the land of the living was gradual and unpleasant. I could feel that I was in Ranger's arms again and the handcuffs were gone for now. I was sitting up in Ranger's lap. Honestly at that point all I cared about was keeping the contents of my stomach where they belonged. For several minutes I concentrated on fighting to win that battle. I groaned as I realized that I was going to lose the war.

"Sick" I managed to grunt out and a bucket was placed on my lap and Ranger's hands guided my head towards it.

After several unpleasant minutes, I let myself collapse against Ranger's chest. Even though I was still pissed at him I didn't feel well enough to continue the argument at this point. Alright, I admit it I was enjoying being held too. Probably it was giving information to the enemy as Ranger would say, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I had not been held in a long time and the human contact was welcome. I knew eventually I would have to sit up and defend myself and my rights again but for the moment I was content. The bucket was removed from my lap, and a warm washcloth wiped my face.

I lifted my head, I wasn't ready to fight yet but I didn't want to give Ranger the wrong idea that I was just going to accept what he'd done without a fight. Ranger's hand came up and pushed my head back to his shoulder. "I know that you are still mad, Babe. I also know you still don't feel good, go back to sleep and we will deal with this later." Giving in felt like the weak thing to do but sleep sounded so good I allowed myself to give in.

I woke up in bed alone, and not restrained. Ranger and Tank must have figured I would sleep a lot longer and so I was by myself. I sat up and looked around, unfortunately it was dark and I couldn't see much. The slight glow from a night light caught my attention. Hopefully it was the bathroom; I carefully maneuvered myself out of the bed and towards the light.

_Score_, I thought doing a happy dance. I quietly made use of the facilities and decided to look around the room. I left the light from the bathroom on as I wandered out into the bedroom. When the light didn't seem to attract any attention I turned on the main light. I wandered over to the window to see whether it would do me any good. Looking outside I could make out a flat lawn of several hundred yards, and then a tree line. Just beyond the tree line there appeared to be a street or road of some sort as I could see headlights passing by occasionally.

Still nothing, the closet door was open and I noticed there were duffle bags on the floor, with my purse sitting on top. Smiling I set my purse aside and slowly unzipped the duffle. There on top was a pair of my jeans and a long sleeved thermal shirt. I was using all my training and what little I remembered from spy movies to try to make sure I my getaway would work. I pulled out a blue hat and a black turtle neck sweater. Once I got to the street I would be able to change my appearance again. I zipped up the duffle bags to make it look like they hadn't been touched. Reaching into my purse I pulled open the lining in which I had hidden a small wad of cash, credit card with fake id, and a stun gun for emergencies. Ranger would probably have been proud at my cunning, but since I was using it to escape him I thought that it would somehow count against me. Tucking my secret stash and stun gun into my back pocket, I stood up and walked to the light switch and turned it off. I quickly changed my clothes, and shoved the old clothes under the bed, the longer they didn't know I had changed my clothes the better chances I had of getting away. I shoved the hat down the front of my pants and wrapped the sweater around my waist under my thermal. I knew there would most likely be camera's but hopefully they would chase me first and check those later.

Glancing around the room I made sure that I hadn't had any unexpected guests wander in while I wasn't paying attention. The coast was still clear. The bathroom light gave off just enough light for me to see the locks on the window. I unlocked them before it occurred to me that I would have to do something about the screen, removing it would definitely set off an alarm, but I was willing to bet that I could go thru the screen without setting off the alarm if I could just make a hole in it. I thought for several seconds before I headed back into the bathroom. Opening the drawers quietly I found what I was looking for, fingernail clippers.

I returned quickly to the window and lifted it silently. Holding my breath I didn't hear an alarm, or the sound of rushing footsteps in the hall, I used the fingernail clippers to make a small hole which I enlarged with my hands. Once the hole was big enough I stuck my head out and looked down, there was a small ledge that lead to an angled porch roof. I pulled my head back in and carefully climbed out the window. Hugging the wall I tentatively edged my way over to the roof, and stood there for a moment trying to decide the best way to get down. Shrugging my shoulders I realized that I would have to literally take a leap of faith.

I closed my eyes said a last minute prayer to the patron saint of idiots, if there was one, and stepped off the ledge. I landed heavily on my right side. I slid about a foot and managed to stop myself just before I reached the edge. Pulling myself together, I rolled to my knees and looked down, not bad only about a four feet drop, from a hanging position.

Using talent that I already knew I had, I managed to locate the ground with my ass. The plus side to using such methods is that you are less likely to break something, or so I told myself even though my ass was disagreeing with me.

Getting up, I looked around quickly to make sure I hadn't been spotted. There was no one around, with a smile for my trickery. I sprinted towards the trees. When I was about six feet into the tree line, the lights on the house came on. I quickly and as quietly as possible ran through the trees towards the road.

Word count 1,259 minus 90 for disclaimer/dedication


	4. Chapter 4

For little Arizona, your arrival scared us all but we are so glad you're here.

I don't own anything.

I ran until I thought my knees would fall off. Slowing to a fast walk I looked around me, and tried to listen over the sound of my breathing. Across the street I was moving parallel to, I could see what looked like a small shopping center about a block or so up the road. I didn't see any lurking black SUVs' so I decided crossing the street to the shopping center was probably my best bet.

I wiped the sweat off my forehead and face onto my shirt. Stepping further into the shadow of the trees, I removed my thermal shirt and pulled on my sweater before tucking my hair carefully under my hat. I folded the thermal shirt and placed it near a tree trunk using some loose branches and leaves to cover it up. Halfway up the block I stepped out of the trees and onto the sidewalk. Using the crosswalk I hurried into the shopping center parking lot. I noticed a large grocery store to one side of the lot. I moved in that direction hoping for a working payphone and a clue to where I was.

In the store I grabbed a banana and a sports drink. Paying cash, I asked for extra quarters in my change. Looking at my receipt, I saw that I was in Alexandria, Virginia. Interesting Batman brought me to the east coast, but not all the way home. That was something I would have to ponder after I made a couple of phone calls.

I drank my drink as I went back outside looking for the payphone. I listened with growing frustration as Mary Lou's phone rang and rang, eventually the answering machine picked up and I left a brief message. "Hey it's Steph. Ranger and Tank found me, I am in Virginia. I will try calling Connie."

I was punching in Connie's number when a whisper of Bulgari on the air warned me I'd been caught. Ranger's body pushed into mine and his words growled into my ear.

"That was a good escape Stephanie. You got pretty far, almost three miles."

Not far enough I thought, trying to decide if I should fight or stand down. Ranger's hand swept over my right shoulder and to my hand forcing me to hang up. I guess he thought the decision had already been made. Carefully with my left hand I slowly pulled my stun gun out of my pocket. Ranger had stunned me twice and drugged me once, and I was going to pay him back. Well I was going to try anyway. His arms began to circle me, to take me back I was sure. I waited until his right arm was around my waist and then I tagged him.

There was a surprised hiss of air in my ear before his body went limp. I leaned him up against the wall and turned to run. Unfortunately Tank stood there with a shocked look on his face. Eyes wide he looked at me like I had lost my mind. I smiled, giving him a small finger wave with my right hand. While he was still staring at me I lunged with my left hand attempting to tag him as well. I pulled the trigger but it slipped halfway off Tanks arm.

It wasn't much but hopefully it, along with Ranger receiving a full jolt would buy me sometime. I dodged around Tank and took off running. I ran in the direction I thought was north, and hooked a right and continued east for three blocks. The lack of headlights and noise told me I wasn't being followed; I hoped.

Don't get me wrong I knew he would find me again. This time I would be tased and wake wearing hand cuffs again most likely. However I wasn't going to give in without a fight. The first time they grabbed me Ranger and Tank had it easy. I guess they forgot who the real me is. The shadows in front of me shifted and Ranger emerged. He did not look happy, and the taser in his hand told me he meant business.

I came to a quick stop, and looked around. Tank was coming up behind me, he didn't look much happier than Ranger. Well at least they had some small taste of how I felt. While I was looking at Tank, Ranger had quietly closed the distance between us. He sighed and I sighed as he placed the taser against my neck. The sizzle was familiar as I sagged into darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

I cheerfully admit I know next to nothing about stun guns, but I think that if it should be possible to dial the charge up or down in a controlled setting. And if anyone would have access to such a product Ranger would. I believe he regularly uses a lower setting but in his need to get Steph back to the house he turned up the dial to make it easier for himself. Also Ranger and the rest are a bit out of character I've tried to stick close to canon but this chapter stands out.

I still don't own the characters past or present. Darn it all to heck and back.

As I swam towards wakefulness, several things registered. I was handcuffed, but my hands rested in my lap. There were several people talking around me and at least one of them was a slightly familiar young female's voice. Ranger's arms held me gently and securely to him, my head resting against his shoulder. His voice rumbled in my ear but I couldn't distinguish words yet. The tone of voices was slightly easier to figure out. Ranger's resigned the girl's voice inquisitive, and was that Lester's voice? Lester seemed both jovial and concerned. I decided against trying to follow the conversation for now.

Even though Ranger was currently on the top of my shit list, I was still going to enjoy sitting in his lap being held by him. The way I was cuddled into him made me feel almost like I was important to him. I knew that wasn't the case but for the moment when I couldn't fight it anyway I was going to enjoy it. My muscles sagged into the arms that held me so tight, it had been close to a year since I had enjoyed any sort of human contact specifically male human contact and it was sending zings straight to my doodah. The arm around my back tightened, and I attempted to pay attention to the conversation around me again. I had better success this time.

"I can't believe that you zapped her again." Lester sounded more than a little exasperated. "If people keep stunning her she's gonna start picking up radio signals, and you must have used a higher setting than normal cause she is still out of it."

"You weren't there Lester, I was there looking into her face when Ranger got behind her. She knew it was going to happen, I could see it in her eyes. Stephanie wasn't going to come back without a fight and she knew we weren't going to let her escape again." Tank's voice demanded attention. He carried on in a softer voice, "It was pretty amazing she had great timing, if it was anyone besides us after her, she wouldn't have been caught."

"Besides," said Ranger "Stephanie is awake enough to listen to us now. Aren't you Babe?"

I attempted to say I was awake, but it came out a garbled mumble. A hand rested on my head for a moment and tipped it back and my eyelids were pulled up and a bright light blinded me. My hands swung out at the obnoxious light and I connected with someone's face. Ranger's chest shook with laughter, and the room echoed the other occupant's mirth as well.

"Good hit Steph," Lester said laughing.

"Damn she managed to put a good heft into it, if she had full control she would have broken my nose." Bobby complained.

"Sorry," I said but it sounded like mush as it left my mouth.

"Alright Steph let's try this again, I am going to check your eyes. Okay? Don't hit me this time." Bobby's hand gently tilted my head back again and carefully opened my eyes. One at a time, I am not sure what he was checking for, since I knew that Ranger would never let me hit the ground after he stunned me. "Her pupils look fine. She's probably thirsty and hungry."

Bobby was right I was thirsty, very thirsty and my stomach gurgled reminding me that I didn't get to eat my banana before Tank and Ranger found me. The problem was, I wasn't about to eat anything they gave me to eat. I wouldn't fall for that again if they wanted to drug me into a stupor they would have to stick me with a needle. If I was at full capacity they would have a serious fight on their hands, right now however, I knew they could easily overpower me. I turned my face into Ranger's neck. He stiffened for a moment before relaxing. For several minutes I was allowed to my quiet reflections.

All too soon, Ranger's hand came to my chin trying to gently pull it out of his neck. "Stephanie, you need to eat. I know you are hungry, everyone in the room can hear that you are hungry."

I shook my head, I might be hungry but I wasn't ready to give in to my stomach.

"Steph," he said.

But I kept shaking my head I wasn't going to give in. There was several beats of silence then I heard the girls voice whom I now realized was Julie ask.

"Why won't she eat, is her tummy upset?"

"No little one," Ranger said, "I made a stupid mistake and now Stephanie doesn't want to trust me."

I was surprised, coming from Ranger it was almost an apology. I nodded once in agreement and buried my head a little further into Ranger's neck. Ranger's sigh was echoed by several others in the room.

"Then you should apologize and promise not to do it again!" The adamancy in Julie's voice made me smile a little. Ranger was getting chastised by his pre-teen daughter.

"Yes Julie, you are right I will apologize and hope that Stephanie will trust me." Ranger said and turned his head so he spoke directly into my ear. "Stephanie, I am sorry that I put the sedative in your food. I promise to talk to you before taking such drastic actions should something like this occur again. Will you please forgive me?"

I bit my lip thinking, surely there must have been a reason that he felt the need to sedate me. He'd never done anything like it before, so I had to assume something was really wrong. I pulled my head up and looked him in the eyes, "I will forgive you if you will tell me why you did that to me."

"Yes Stephanie, I will. Will you tell me why you left in return?" He asked me.

Word count 989


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own the characters, I just play with them.

I was silent for several long moments; looking at my hands in my lap avoiding everyone's gaze. Closing my eyes, I answered Ranger's question so quietly I was not sure if I spoke aloud.

"You fired me." I whispered. I stood up, anger replacing my need for comfort. "You fired me!" I yelled, looking Ranger in the eyes. "I did all that you asked me to do. I went running when no sane person was awake. I learned to use my gun and always carry it. I took self defense training with instructors you chose. I worked hard to be someone I could be proud of, that wouldn't entertainment for anyone. I wanted to be someone my mom could be proud of; I didn't want to be a disappointment anymore. But no, you waited until I felt like I was accomplishing something, until I was almost sure that you were proud of me. And your men weren't afraid to be asked to work with me. Then, _then_ you pulled the rug out from under me! You couldn't even tell me to my face." I was screaming now, tears of rage and hurt streaming down my face. "You fired me in an email and once again, I realized that I was the joke. Still the line item under entertainment in your fucking budget." The last came out so quietly it was hard to hear it over my sobs. If I had any idea where the front door was I would have been running for it. As it was I stood there eyes closed, head bowed with the force of my grief shaking my body.

Was it really too much to ask to be loved for me? Why did all the men in my life screw me over? I knew I was worth more, deserved more than that; but why couldn't I find a man who would treat me better? Small hands pushed my bound wrists up and then Julie was hugging me rubbing her hands up and down my back with the sweetness of a child. Her kindness gave me the strength to finish.

"You wanted to know why I left. I left because _nobody _wanted me. _Nobody _cared if I had a bad day. My friends deserted me; people I thought I could count on couldn't see me even when I was the only one in the room. My best friends the three wonderful ladies that they are gave me the courage and support I needed to try to find myself again. Connie, Lula, and Mary Lou they held me while I cried, and they helped me make a plan. I left because I didn't want to be worthless anymore."

I was suddenly surrounded by arms and voices. The rest of the people in the room, whom I had forgotten as I vented, were all there wrapping me up in hugs and love. Julie was still wrapped around my waist and I wondered for a moment if she was being squished, and then Ranger was there.

He stood in front of me, his hands cradling my face, wiping my tears away with his thumbs. Ranger leaned forward looking me in the eyes and laid his forehead against mine. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, "Stephanie, Babe. I am proud of you. I want you, hell we all want you in our lives. I did not fire you."

I opened my mouth to argue that, but his finger settled gently across my lips.

"Shh, we'll deal with that in a minute. The most important thing is you are our family. You are a part of my family and my men's family. You are not a joke and you never have been. I know I told you that you were entertainment. What I was trying to say and obviously screwed up is that you brighten our lives. You give all of us something to smile about." He smiled at me and gestured to the rest of the room, "We are all very proud of you, you escaped us, not once but twice Steph. You were able to tase both Tank and myself."

"Yeah Stephanie, that was awesome. You did a good job, getting yourself out of a tight situation." Tank said.

I blushed, embarrassed to be the center of attention after having so completely lost my control. I looked away from Ranger and glanced around the room, I noticed that no one was looking at me with censure in their eyes. But more importantly I saw acceptance.


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own the characters. Sorry this chapter didn't want to cooperate with me and I had to start it 3 times before I managed to get it out.

Words in bold belong to the Babecakesrus challenge, and the bold and italic words belong to the PerfectlyPlum challenge. Thanks for reading.

We had been standing there for several minutes when Bobby reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He gently took my hands and released the cuffs that I had forgotten I was still wearing.

Ranger pulled my wrists to his lips and kissed each one gently before taking a step back and leading me to a chair. He gestured for me to sit down before grabbing a bottle of water opening it and taking the first sip. I had to smile as he placed the bottle in my hands with his eyebrow raised. It was a challenge and it was just what I needed.

I drank the water, swallowing greedily until the bottle was completely empty. A plate with two chicken sandwiches each missing a bite was placed in my lap. A second bottle of water was set on the table next to me. I looked up to see Ranger smiling at me.

"Babe, eat your sandwiches and we will talk." Ranger gave me a thinking about smiling smile, and continued. "If you do that I'll have one of the guys go get donuts for you."

Wow, it must be pretty bad if Ranger was willing to buy me donuts. I sighed and picked up the first sandwich. If it were not so obvious that now was the time to be totally serious; I would have told him I don't eat meat anymore just to see what would happen. Which would actually be fairly close to the truth, I had given up, or got rid of a lot of my bad habits/addictions. The Tasty Cakes were a thing of the past, but the donut addiction was another story. They don't have Tasty Pastry in Nevada, but they do have Krispy Kreme's. Picking up the first sandwich I took a large bite. The quicker I ate them the faster we could move on to something else.

Ranger took the seat next to me with a file in his hand. He took a deep breath and looked at me. "Babe, I know you haven't keeping up with the news." He started. "Unfortunately there has been a recent prison escape."

He closed his eyes like he was trying to gather strength, but Ranger will always be the strongest person I know. What could be so bad, and then I realized that there had to be a reason we were all here together, Ranger, Julie, Rachel, and the rest of the Martine family. My breath caught in my throat, and I choked on the bite of chicken I had just swallowed. I stared at Ranger, begging him with my eyes to deny the fear screaming thru my brain.

Ranger's face was blank and yet I could see that I was right. "Scrog." I rasped, as Ranger nodded in agreement. "How…why…oh God I…" I could feel myself hyperventilating; the harsh rasp as I tried to draw in air and it wasn't enough. Black spots were dancing in front in my line of vision, **sweat **was accumulating on my forehead, and my stomach churned with **acid**. The plate on my lap was pulled off, and my head was pushed to my knees. I closed my eyes trying desperately to center myself and get control of my body. Focus on Ranger, I told myself. Ranger, Tank, Lester and Bobby they would keep us safe, they were _**veteran soldiers, **_trained _**warriors. **_ Protective arms lifted me out of my chair and I was in Ranger's lap again. Funny I seemed to keep ending up there, maybe I should stop trying to leave his embrace. A person would have to be crazy and stupid to even **dare **considerto removing me. __I wouldn't go without a fight and I would not give into my terror. Scrog was a _**loser**_ from the beginning and I would not let him conquer me. My breathing slowed easing toward normalcy.

I lifted my head and stared into the **kind** and concerned faces of the rest of the room. My lips tilted in the semblance of a smile. Ranger's arms tightened around me.

"I'm sorry, just the thought of that asshole running around loose, it frightens me. But well, you all saw that. So there must be more to the story. How did he get out, do we have an idea of where he's at, where he's going?"

Perhaps I was over compensating a slight bit. Besides everyone in this room, well almost everyone in the room knew me well enough to know I was diving head first into denial. As for those who didn't know me that well, I had a feeling that would change, and I could see on Rachel's face especially clearly that they had reached denial before me.

The voice that answered me was surprising in it familiarity and its complete lack of hostility. "Edward Scrog escaped from maximum security at the Federal Correctional Complex in Florence, Colorado two days ago. In his cell we found journaling detailing his beliefs as to why his first attempt failed. We also found evidence that you Stephanie are his first target and he intends to take you out, and then go for Julie, and finally remove Ranger and take over his life. He blames you Cupcake for most of his failure. Steph, he was able to track you down when none of us could. Which would be why, I know nothing about your kidnapping, and interstate flight." There was a smile in his voice I would not have believed him capable of when discussing legally grey behavior for morally right actions.

I turned my head toward the voice, and I had to smile when I caught sight of Morelli. We had not parted on the best of terms but right now it didn't seem to matter. The truth was, last I heard Joe wasn't welcome in my parent's house and his Grandma Bella had threatened to put the 'eye' on him. My mom caught Joe in a position I asked her not to describe with Joyce Barnhardt. The truly gratifying part, at the time anyway was that his mother and Grandma Bella were with Mom when she walked in and had seen it all as well. That gave me something to smile about for a quite a while afterwards.

"Babe, Morelli has been assigned to this case because he worked on the case last time. For now the plan is to stay here and try not to attract attention." Ranger smiled and looked around at his men, "and Babe none of my men will let you touch their stun guns."

There were several chuckles and I joined in. Happy that even after everything that had happened I was still a part of this group of people. They were my _**champions, **_my _**heroes.**_ The realization that we still had some unfinished business had me twisting around in Ranger's lap to glare at him face to face.

"Man I have to say I don't miss that one bit. Glad it's you Manoso and not me that pissed her off this time." Morelli's voice held far more glee than I thought was strictly necessary, but I kept my focus on Ranger.

"Why did you fire me?" I asked and my teeth were clenched so tightly I was concerned they might shatter soon.

"Stephanie, I did not fire you." Ranger said with fire hardened steel in his voice. "Have I ever lied to you?"

I shook my head, wishing now that I was not sitting on his lap. I was completely unable to get off of him as his arms tightened to bands of iron as soon as the thought cross my mind.

"Then you should know that I am not about to start now. I did not fire you." He sighed and then continued. "My computer system was hacked and the person who hacked in fired you in my name and sent me a letter of resignation in yours."

I blinked; I didn't think that was possible. Silvio was a computer genius I had always thought that there was no way anyone would be able to hack a system designed and protected by him.

"Who did it? Did you catch him?" I asked.

"We know who did it, but we only figured that out recently." Ranger answered me. "Apparently Scrog was able to get computer and internet access in prison and he taught himself some new tricks. It appears he's been planning this escape for a long time."

I shook my head, amazing, just when you think that things couldn't get any crazier, they did. My eyelids were beginning to droop, I didn't know what time it was but my body was demanding unaided sleep in the worst way. Probably I should finish my food and ask for a bed, but all I really had the energy for was to lay my head on Ranger's shoulder and allow myself to drift again.

"Are you sure you didn't put something in my food again?" I asked in a clearly teasing tone.

"I made your sandwiches Stephanie, and I promise I didn't put anything but food in them." Julie's weet voice said. "Come on I will show you where your room is." And with that she grabbed me by the hand and pulled me off Ranger's lap and out of the room before I had a chance to protest.

We climbed a flight of stairs and took the hallway to the right stopping at the third door from the landing. I opened the door and realized it was the room I escaped from earlier. The window had been closed again, and it was warm and inviting in shades of _**slate **_grey, _**cream**_, and blue. The walls shone with an iridescent **glaze** that added to the calming influence of the room subtly. I thanked Julie, and closed the door. After making use of the bathroom I shucked my clothes and climbed into bed.

Word count: 1656


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own the characters; I just move them around for my entertainment purposes.

I woke held securely, almost lovingly, in Bulgari scented arms. A trip to the bathroom was a desperate necessity. Two bottles of water right before bed is rough on the bladder. I tried to slip out of Ranger's arms but they tightened hugging me closer to his warm solid chest.

"No Babe, stay; don't go." The plea was so heartfelt and sleepy it took me by surprise for a moment. I wished that Ranger wanted me for me, to have and hold, to love me. I would have laid there, day dreaming about life with Carlos, if nature hadn't forcefully reminded me of other needs. I struggled to get out of Ranger's embrace again succeeding only in waking him this time.

Babe it's too early," he said "go back to sleep."

"Let me up, I have to use the bathroom." I scrambled from the bed. Ranger had left a lot of things unanswered. But there were a lot of things I hadn't asked as well. Now that we were both awake without an audience I was going to get some answers. I squared my shoulders and marched back into the room; determined not to let myself become distracted.

"I have some questions I want answered." I was proud of how firm my voice was.

Ranger rolled onto his back and sat up, settling himself against the headboard. He nodded his head and patted the bed beside him. I sat down at the foot of the bed facing him.

"Go ahead Babe." He said his face blank.

"Why didn't you just talk to me when you came to get me?" I asked. "Why did you and Tank break into my apartment and scare me half to death instead of waking me up and telling me what was happening. How can you justify stunning, and drugging me? And why is Morelli completely okay with the way you got me here?" My voice had gotten louder as I spoke.

"Shh! Babe, Julie is in the room next door." Ranger said getting up, going to the door and checking to make sure Julie was still sleeping. "I was so afraid that Scrog would get to you first. When you left Trenton, it was like a knife to my heart. We, I mean your friends, family and I, called a meeting to see if anyone knew where you were, if you were okay. Some of us noticed that Connie, Lula, and Mary Lou weren't as upset as we thought they should be. We were able to drag it out of them that they knew that you were okay and that you left of your own accord. Because they didn't know where you were, they couldn't tell us how to contact you. But they agreed to let us all know when they heard from you so that everyone would know you were okay." He took a deep breath and in his eyes I could see the hurt and concern. It surprised me.

"Babe I was afraid that if I tried to talk to you that you wouldn't have listened. And I needed desperately to know that you were safe. Not just me, but Julie as well. Babe, she refused to sleep until we got you here. She was so worried about you, and she said that she feels safer knowing you are here for her. All my men and I are here, but you're her star, her hero, her safety net. That's why she's in the next room, and it took a lot to convince her that she couldn't sleep here in this room."

I was shocked at how much he had opened up to me. Julie refusing to sleep until I got here, that was another large surprise. Looking at Ranger and he could see that I was more than a little shocked.

"Babe, how could you not be her hero? She has told everybody about how brave you were when that asshole kidnapped you. How you hit and kicked him even though you didn't have a way to escape. You are my hero, because of your kindness and selflessness. I have the chance to get to know my daughter in a real and meaningful way. It's not something I ever expected to want to do but now I do. I have this need to get to know her. There is another need I have but I am not sure you are ready for that." He gave me a half smile and reached out his hand for me.

I looked at him for a minute before placing my hand in his. We both knew what it meant it was not necessary for us to discuss my willingness to give him my trust again. His smile broadened until I was receiving the full 200 watts, and I returned his smile.

"How can I be Julie's hero?" I asked as he pulled me across the bed and into his arms. "I didn't even do anything other than piss Scrog off, and get myself stunned."

"You came willingly to rescue her, and you gave her hope by fighting back in a situation you had no way to escape." He settled me against him my back to his chest so that I was sitting on the bed in between his legs. "You didn't give up, and you gave Julie the courage to not give up either."

"I never thought of it that way. What did you tell my boss? Did you tell him anything? I really like my job, I am good at it I and I enjoy it." I said suddenly worried I wouldn't have a job to go back to once this newest mess was cleared up.

His arms tightened around me for a minute before I felt him force himself to relax. "Babe, Tank talked to your work and let them know that you had to take a leave of absence until Scrog could be caught again. You still have your job." Ranger's voice was quiet and resigned as he spoke about my job.

I found myself wondering about the resignation I heard in his voice, it almost sounded like he was upset that I had somewhere to return to. Gathering my courage, I turned and looked at Ranger. "You don't sound happy that I'm not going to lose my job. Why is that?" I asked with both eyebrows raised.

Ranger looked down at me and sighed, "Babe, I don't like you so far away from me. But if that is what makes you happy then I will deal with it. My men and I were hoping that you would consider coming back to work for Rangeman. It doesn't have to be the Trenton office. It's just you bring so much light and happiness into our lives we miss you; when you're gone."

I bit my lip I would have to think long and hard about that option. There would have to be some major changes and I doubted that I would choose to live in Trenton again. Trenton was too small of a world view for me now. I didn't want to go back and be everyone's focus all over again. Fitting in wasn't my goal, but I didn't want to stick out like a neon light either.

"I promise I will think about it, Ranger. But if I do it definitely won't be Trenton." I said, turning my head as I heard a small cry.

Word count: 1241


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own the characters, and I am not making any money off of my imagination.

I was off the bed and across the room before I had a conscious thought of moving. Ranger was right beside me as I reached the door. We slowed as we entered the hall to avoid waking anyone else up. Julie's door stood slightly open as if somebody, or several somebody's had checked on her several times over the course of the night. I paused in her doorway for a moment to get my bearings before heading towards Julie.

Julie was tangled in her covers and whimpering in her sleep. I realized as I looked at her, that she and I probably shared the same nightmares, and in that instant I was glad to be here. If I could do anything to stop or minimize the nightmares that interrupted her sleep then I would gladly let Ranger and Tank, hell anyone else from the core team stun, and sedate me all over again. No child should be afraid to sleep and I realized that Julie was assaulted by terror in her sleep. It was a terror that I shared, and though I had never told anyone somehow I knew that Joe and Ranger knew of it.

Careful not to jar her badly I sat on the bed next to her and reached out to brush her hair out of her face. "Shh, Julie it's okay. It's only a dream it's not real. We're here you're safe it's okay. Shh, baby." I was desperate to take her in my arms and hold her till her fright passed, but I didn't want to make it worse. "Julie love, open your eyes sweetheart. You are safe, he can't get you here. I won't let him, Ranger won't let him either. No one will let him get near you again. Wake up sweetie."

Ranger gave me a grateful glance before reaching out to lift Julie into his arms. "Julie Querida, it's okay. Wake up Niña. Open your eyes, there's a good girl."

Julie's eyes fluttered open; she turned her head into Ranger's shoulder seeming to recognize him in her partially awake state. Perhaps it was instinct or maybe it was just Ranger, but as I sat there watching him comfort his daughter I realized that he would make a very good father. In my heart I desperately wanted to remind him of the offer he had made a long time ago when Val was pregnant. I wanted the chance to carry Ranger's child under my heart. For long moments I sat there daydreaming of what our child would look like. Reality intruded as Julie began to speak in a small trembling voice.

"It was a weird dream, first I was with my friend Lindy, and we were grownups at the beach, but then all of a sudden _he _was there and he reached out and stunned me like he did to Stephanie. Then when I woke up I was dressed in a bunny suit and covered in chocolate sauce and _he _just kept saying that I had been a naughty girl and needed to be punished and he had a bomb in his hand like he taped to Steph before." Her voice drifted off in to tears, and Ranger began to rock her in his arms.

Ranger moved so that his back was against the headboard and I scooted up to sit next to him so that Julie was cradled in between us. Julie moved and wriggled around until she was comfortable, then with a small sigh she drifted back to sleep.

It was at that moment that I began to do something I hadn't in a long time, I prayed. I prayed that Edward Scrog would be caught and that his reign of terror over Julie would be ended. It was while I was asking God with all that I had to keep this little girl safe, that I fell asleep lulled by the comfort of Ranger so close by.

The sound of stifled giggles and murmuring voices woke me when the sun was bright in the sky. A click caused me to open my eyes in time to see Rachel and Lester with camera's pointed in our direction. I grimaced trying to decide whether I wanted to muster the energy to chase Lester down.

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist," Rachel whispered. "The three of you looked so sweet together. I wanted to take a picture."

I turned my head slowly and realized that both Julie and Ranger were still asleep and we were all cuddled together on Julie's bed. Smiling I nodded to Rachel before laying my head down on Ranger's shoulder to snooze a little while longer.

Ranger shifted a little in his sleep and then he spoke directly in my ear. "I'll get a copy for both of us from her later Babe."

I allowed myself to drift, thoughts of Carlos dancing through my head like sugar plums. Dreams put on hold last night when I heard Julie's cry came back to me.

Life as Carlos' wife, mother to his children played on my eyelids. Our beautiful children well loved, taught independence and self sufficiency from a young age. Our children would always be encouraged to choose their own direction in life. Happiness bubbled inside me expanding until I felt it with every molecule of my body.

A small hand lightly tapping my face pulled me from my happy thoughts. Opening my eyes I was staring into Julie's smiling face. I blinked and returned her smile the happy feeling lingering, slightly faded but not diminished.

"You love him, don't you?" Julie asked me, taking me by surprise.

I glanced around the room relieved that we were alone. My gaze settled back on Julie.

"Yes," I whispered "I have for a long time. That's part of why I left, I couldn't be around him if he didn't want me anymore."

The smile that graced Julie's face lit the room brighter than the sun. She leaned close to me and whispered.

"I love him, too. I know he doesn't want us to, but I can't help it." She said with a shy smile.

I smiled, and gathered her into a fierce hug, before letting go and shifting to get off the bed.

"Well then, we'll just have to show him that we won't give up on him." I winked at Julie which made her giggle.


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own the characters, I am just enjoying playing dress up dolly with them today.

After a shower and a change of clothes, I felt ready to face a day with both Joe and Carlos in the same room for long periods of time. Probably it had something to do with the Bugari body wash I found in the shower. It appeared that I was sharing the master suite with Ranger. Truthfully I didn't mind in the least bit.

I wandered downstairs following the sound of voices to what I hoped was the kitchen. My stomach growled reminding me of its currently empty status.

I stopped in the doorway smiling at the sight that greeted me. The kitchen was bright and cheerful. White, Cadet Blue, and Sage Green tile and walls, combined to create a welcoming atmosphere. But it was Carlos in an apron, with Tank and Lester at his side while Julie instructed them in the fine art of muffin making that cause my heart to stutter. It made me wish for a camera quite desperately. I wanted to always remember Carlos and his men covered in specks of flour sugar and blueberries. A hand on my shoulder caused me to turn, seeing Joe's amused face as Rachel passed her camera around him to me.

I managed two good shots before they looked up realizing they had an audience. The smiles on Carlos and Julie's faces were precious, and I managed to take another picture before they looked at each other nodded once and began to come towards me. I backed up a step, the look in their eyes particularly Ranger's made me nervous.

I would have turned tail and ran but since I only knew how to get to Julie's room and the master bedroom, I didn't have any good hiding options. The diabolical grin on Ranger's face told me he knew what I was thinking. As my options were limited I decided the best defense was a good offense. I smiled angelically (oh hush you) and stalked forwards towards them. Ranger's eyes widened slightly in surprise; I grabbed Julie and swung her into my arms flipping her upside down offering her butt t the room in general.

"Free spankings! Anyone want a free shot?" I asked, wandering around the room as Julie shrieked and wiggled trying to get loose.

"No fair!" She yelled. "Let me down!"

"Nope, you are mine now." I said. "I've decided to keep you. You're coming home with me."

"Hmm…" Ranger said in a deceptively calm voice. "Maybe I want to keep you both what are you going to do about that?" He reached out and snagged Julie out of my arms, setting her right side up on the floor. He placed a sweetly gentle kiss on her forehead, as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"My hero!" She declared. "You saved me."

We all laughed with her but; there was no mistaking the love and pride in her voice. I looked in Ranger's eyes and I could see shock that she would feel that way towards him. He blinked and it was gone. Looks like Batman needed more time to consider these new revelations.

Working together we got the table set and breakfast on the table in a little over 30 minutes. Even I had contributed a recipe new favorite recipe, scrambled eggs with onions and green chilies. By the way they disappeared I would call them a hit.

After breakfast Julie went off with Rachel to do school work. The Rangemen including the boss went to have a meeting with Joe, and I was left to my own devices. I wanted to go outside and sit in the sun, or take a long walk. However; I wasn't going to voluntarily do anything that would allow Scrog to get anywhere near me.

With that in mind, I started climbing the stairs. The closer I got to the top of the stairs, the more the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and my shoulder-blades twitched. Looking around, I noticed that the door to my room was slightly open. Since I had closed the door and I knew Ranger had not come upstairs after that. I crept silently forward, until I could see in to the room. What I saw made my stomach churn. On the bed facing away from the door I recognized the back of Scrog's head.

**(I was going to end there since I hand wrote this chapter on paper, but I have decided to add a little bit more)**

I was completely still for several heartbeats, before I began to back down the stairs as silently as I came up them. I kept my eyes on the door willing it not to move. My hand clutched the banister in a death grip. At the bottom step I backed into a wall, my hand flew up to cover my mouth and prevent my startled scream. A second hand covered mine, as Ranger's arm wrapped around my waist lifting and carrying me to the first doorway in the hall.

Joe and the rest of Ranger's guys looked up, surprised by our method of entry.

"Okay Babe, tell me what's wrong." Ranger said quietly as he released me.

"I…Where is Rachel and Julie?" I was having a hard time forming coherent thoughts but protecting Julie was my top priority. "It's…He's here in the house. In our room, he was laying on the bed." My words came out in such a rush it took the men several minutes to process what I had said. Once it was clear, Cal and Hal were out of their seats. "Cal and I will go guard Rachel and the kids."

All of the men were standing now looking at Joe and Ranger waiting for instructions.

Joe looked at Ranger and said "As long as there isn't any unnecessary roughness these are your men, call the shots."

I was surprised and gratified at Joe's words.

Ranger nodded to Joe "Thank you Joe. Alright Tank you and I are…" He was interrupted here by Lester and Bobby.

"Ranger man, he wants you dead, you are not going in point on this." Lester said, and continued quickly when it looked like Ranger would argue. "You and Stephanie can come but you guard her and you will be in the back, Tank and I will take point and Bobby and Joe will have our backs."

Ranger considered it for a second and then nodded. "Put your Kevlar on and let's go, we don't want him to get away or loose in this house."

When everyone, including me was covered by Kevlar and had guns at the ready we made our way silently up the stairs. As Tank and Lester reached the top stair I could tell that Scrog wasn't on the bed any longer. I sighed but said nothing to Ranger as we waited at the bottom of the staircase.


	11. Chapter 11

Even after all these years I am still surprised at how fast Ranger and his men can move. Within seconds; okay a few minutes, of Scrog getting in the house everyone was in a vehicle and we were on our way somewhere else. As to where we were headed I don't think even Ranger knew, yet.

Within 45 minutes of getting in the cars, we had stopped and changed cars in Baltimore. We were now headed west. Now, I won't pretend to be even close to Ranger and Tank's level of awareness, but when I was on my own in Vegas I started paying greater attention to my surroundings. I realized that there must have been some sort of pre-planned contingency plan. How else would I end up in the same car as Ranger, Tank and Julie? A few other things quickly became clear. Everyone else was going to somewhere other than where we were. Slowly one by one the four other cars that were following us would drop back and then disappear. I didn't say anything though, I didn't want to frighten Julie and I trusted Ranger and Tank to keep us safe.

We drove all day, Tank and Ranger taking turns driving, we stopped for food, and gas as needed. Every once and a while; I saw either Tank or Ranger watching me from the corners of their eyes. They were waiting for me to demand answers, junk food, and information. Or maybe they were waiting to see if my spidey-sense was going to go off. For my part I was content to sit and watch the scenery change, allow my thoughts to drift where they would, or snooze. The setting sun in my eyes caused me to examine the insides of my eyelids while indulging in some R rated thoughts, which lulled me into a nap.

I startled as Ranger shifted Julie's head from my shoulder, and with Tank's help moved her to the third row seat. They tucked her into the seat with a pillow and blanket I hadn't seen previously. Now that I was paying attention again, I realized we were sitting in a Target parking lot, and that Ranger held several shopping bags.

"Just some clothes, and a few things to make the ride more comfortable Babe." Ranger said when I gave him a questioning look. With a well defined smirk, he pulled out a laptop with car charger, two iPods, a couple of books and a women's magazine for me.

I couldn't help but smile at him. "Thank you," I said. "If you need me to, I can drive for a while."

Ranger smiled, okay his lips tilted at the corners a bit, and he climbed into the seat next to me. "Thanks Babe, right now Tank is going to drive and you and I are going to nap. After that, we'll see." And then he pulled me close into his side and leaned on a pillow against the door. Just before I fell asleep, I heard the car start and felt Ranger's lips press to my forehead.

I woke up when Ranger tried to gently move me off him. I sat up disoriented for a moment.

"Shh, Steph" Tank said as he offered me his hand. "Do you want to sit in the front seat while Ranger drives? I'm gonna take a nap."

"Thanks," I answered as he pulled me out the door and set me on my feet. I took a look around. We were stopped at a large truck stop. I bit my lip and looked at Ranger.

"Babe? What do you need?" It was gratifying how well Ranger knew me.

"Bathroom and a drink?" I asked.

Ranger turned to Tank and they exchanged a look. Tank climbed in the car and closed the door. I realized that Tank would guard Julie and I would get a sexy man in black to guard me.

The smile on Ranger's face as he took my hand, told me that my thoughts were easily read on my face. We walked across the lot to the doors. After taking care of nature, I walked out of the restroom to find Batman waiting for me. He had a mischievous smile on his face.

"Come on Babe; let's get you a drink and some snacks." Taking my hand he pulled me towards the snack aisles, straight to the chocolate display.

I picked out my token piece of chocolate and turned to walk away, but then I realized I it wouldn't be fair eat chocolate in front of Julie if I didn't share. I quickly grabbed a second Snickers bar and made my way towards the healthier snack choices. Ranger was following my lead now, and he made a noise of amusement when I picked up a package of nuts, and another of cherry flavored dried cranberries.

"Babe, there's no need for the twigs and berries; we're not in a third world jungle." He reached out to put my selections back.

"Actually Ranger these are for me. If you and Tank want some snacks you should pick out your own." I smiled at his slightly disbelieving look. "Since we're not going to a third world jungle, any chance you boys have decided where we are going?"

"For now west. That reminds me grab an atlas, we couldn't find one in Target earlier." With that he moved me away from the twig and berry aisle towards the drinks.

I picked out a soda for me, an orange juice for Julie and a bottle of water for everyone in the car. When I turned around Ranger had a small box of donuts and a bag containing mixed bite sized chocolate bars. His sheepish smile was so cute I decided not to give him crap for it.

The kiss I got at the cash register more than made up for the missed opportunity. Hand in hand we walked out to the car. As I got settled, Ranger handed me the atlas.

"Okay Stephanie, take a look at the atlas and tell me which direction to head next. We've been headed west for a long time and our end goal is further west but we should head either north or south for a while." He told me.

"Umm, alright we're in east Illinois now right?" I verified, looking at the state's map.

Ranger nodded.

"Then when we get to Springfield go south on I-55 and we can just stay on that until you get tired and then I will drive."

"We'll see Babe." And he started the car and headed for the freeway. "How far is it to Springfield?"

"It looks like it's about 80 miles or so," I told him.


	12. Chapter 12

I don't own anything. Thank you all for continuing to read, review, and favorite my story. I am sorry that it's a fairly short update, but that's what I have. I know it's been a while but I am a college student, which means finals are less than a month away for me so this will be the last update until at least mid-May. Sorry! Thanks for reading and enjoy.

I let Ranger drive in silence for an hour or two trying to decide what I wanted when the threat of Scrog was over. Sure I dreamt of a life and family with Ranger and Julie, but that was very unlikely. Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes for a moment picturing it a perfect house clean and quiet, with Julie doing her homework at the table and a baby playing on the floor. Reality intruded the perfect black and white picture and color took over. Loud babbling coming from the television, and the baby whining to be picked up as I debated with Julie over her chores. I sighed and blinked my wistful tears away.

"Babe? Is something wrong?" Ranger's voice surprised me and I turned to look at him before I managed to banish the last of the tears in my eyes. He glanced at me and must have seen my tears, because he reached for my hand.

I gave a small smile and squeezed his hand.

He returned the squeeze of my hand, before pulling my hand to his lips. His kiss platonic, and comforting against the back of my hand, still sent shivers of desire racing through my blood. He place our hands on his leg.

"Want to tell me what has you upset?" Ranger asked after a few moments of quiet.

"I am just trying to decide what I want to happen after this mess with Scrog is over. I have some dreams but I don't think they are viable."

"If there is one thing I've learned over the years; Babe, it's this. Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones." Ranger's voice was soft and serious. "If you want to talk about it I am here, and willing to listen."

"Thank you for offering, right now I don't know what I want or what I am going to do." I leaned my head against the headrest, staring out of the windshield. It was another few hours before the silence was broken. Julie rolled onto her back and then sat up.

"Ranger?" Julie called in a quiet voice.

"Yes Querida? I am right here." Ranger answered softly.

"Can we stop soon? I need a drink and to use the bathroom." Julie said.

"Do you want water or orange juice?" I asked.

"Orange juice please."

I reached into the bag at my feet and removed her orange juice. I unclipped my seat belt, and turned around trying my best not to wake Tank only to find his eyes open and hand out.

"Thanks Tank." I said.

"No problem. Do you have an extra bottle of water?" He asked as he passed Julie her juice.

"Sure, here you go big guy." Once everyone had their drinks, I pulled out the atlas to check where we were. "Looks like there is a small town in about 40 miles. Can you hold on that long?"

"Yeah, I can wait." Julie said.

When we pulled into the gas station, Julie asked me. "Will you come with me Steph?"

"Of course sweetie." I smiled.

"Hey Babe you still up for driving?" Ranger asked me as he opened the door for me.

"Absolutely. Sure you can trust me with the car?" I teased.

"Babe you've managed to keep a pretty nice car the entire time you've been gone. And I am proud of you. It took a lot of guts to leave everything behind. You did it and you succeeded. Good job Babe." I blushed at Ranger's words.

I smiled as I took Julie's hand and we walked into the truck stop. When we were done in the restroom I asked Julie if there was a snack she wanted to pick out. She quickly picked out a banana, and a piece of beef jerky. We walked to the register and before I could pull my money out, Ranger's hand reached across my left side and slid his card to the cashier.

"I could have got that," I protested.

"Babe" He said, as he led us back to the car. "I know you can, but I like taking care of my girls."

I thought about that for a moment before I climbed in the driver's seat. I had to adjust it forward a bit so that my feet could reach the pedals. When everyone else was situated comfortably, I started the car and turned back towards the freeway.

I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling to brightly when Ranger's hand found its way to my right thigh. He gave me a brief squeeze before his hand and body became limp.

How cool was that? I mean okay I know that Ranger trusts me enough to sleep in my presence, but there's just something different about sleeping in a car, when someone else is driving.

After an hour or two, I started seeing signs for I-40. I looked over at Ranger and saw he was still asleep. A peek in the rear view mirror showed me I was the only away occupant in the vehicle. So I made the decision to head west on I-40 when we reached it. Ranger had said that west was our eventual destination, so I would drive in that direction till I couldn't drive anymore, or until I was relieved of my driving duties.


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks for your patience, this update is short, and just a filler chapter the next will skip ahead a little bit. Like always I don't own the characters, I am only playing with them for my own (and hopefully your) amusement. Thanks for reading and Enjoy:

Ranger's hand was a warm weight on my leg as I merged with traffic on I-40. The lights on the dash board glowed faintly in the dark and yet I was concerned they might be bright enough to distract Ranger and wake him before he really needed to. With a slow movement I turned the dial to dim the lights.

The road stretched on before me dark and nearly deserted. It was too late at night to encounter your normal day trippers and not quite summer yet so the family summer vacationers weren't clogging the interstate as of yet either. I drove cautiously not exceeding the speed limit more than 2 or 3 miles per hour after all I had precious cargo on board. I felt that if I was to go under or the exact speed limit it might make us more noticeable.

I had been traveling down I-40 for 3 hours when the soft exhalations signifying Rangers lack of consciousness changed. His fingers still resting on my thigh tightened almost painfully before relaxing completely. He took a deep breath and then another before sitting up and stretching in his seat.

"Feel better?" I asked quietly.

"Thanks, Babe." He said "Where are we?"

We both glanced out the passenger window, but there wasn't anything to see.

"Well about three hours ago I turned west on I-40 and we are somewhere between Little Rock and the Oklahoma border. I hope that's okay." I said, knowing that it was important to be as detailed as possible, as opposed to my normal blasé attitude.

"That's good Babe." Ranger kept his voice quiet and his movements soft and slow as he turned and looked behind him. Checking on Tank and Julie I guessed.

"Babe, I know it's not your favorite subject but I need to know. Have you practiced with a weapon at all since you left?" He was trying to hide it but the tension in his voice (not to mention that we were running from Scrog) gave him away. He was wishing without holding out any hope that I had practiced with a weapon.

I smiled, grinned really, as I glance into the back of the car. I had been sneaking peeks back every half hour to 45 minutes so at the backseat. "I don't know if I should give you an answer now or if I should wait until we're close to city lights. It'd be a bad thing for you to fall over from shock so far from civilization."

Ranger turned to me and flashed me an almost smile and from the behind me Tanks deep chuckle made me jump a bit. Ranger turned in his seat and leveled a quelling glare at Tank. The chuckles died a quick death.

"You know Tank, I'm sure there is some extra monitor duty available when we get back to Trenton. Just in case, you are in need of entertainment."

"Yes sir, I hear you." Tank said, although there was a smile in his voice, and he sounded far from cowed.

"Well Babe are you gonna give me a straight answer?"

I smiled, "Yes I have practiced with a weapon recently. It was recommended, after I was with a friend who was attacked by a stalker ex-boyfriend. The police at the scene told Janine that she should consider taking a comprehensive self-defense class offered by the sheriff's department. She wasn't very receptive until I found myself volunteering to go with her. I learned some interesting things. The instructor was from back east and he recognized me. He made me promise to stay/get in practice with my gun, and then chased me down to make sure it happened. He found me something I feel safe and comfortable using." I chanced a glance at Ranger he had a blank look on his face, but I think it was more incomprehension as opposed to his normal blank face.

I looked at Tank in the rearview mirror he had a similar look of discombobulated disbelief on his face.

"I still don't like carrying and I usually leave it at home but it's good to be able to use it confidently right?" I asked.

"Yeah Babe it's good." Ranger said, "At the next town Tank or I will drive it's your turn to take a nap.

Normally, I might have argued, but I was exhausted and ready to take a nap.


	14. Chapter 14

"Babe," Ranger said. "There's something we need to talk about before we get where we're going. You know that Joyce is Joe's wife now?"

I nodded my head.

"Good. She's gonna be at the compound. I know you two don't get along but we need her here to help lure Scrog to us."

I gritted my teeth Joyce Barnhardt, well Morelli, was my least favorite person. She was irritating as sand in your shoe, no she was sand in your panties, irritating. Deep breaths I coached myself, you can deal with her you have grown as a human being you can walk away from her no need to let her have the upper hand. I sighed; I had more work to do in convincing myself.

"Thank you for the warning. I will try really hard to be good." I said before I turned my head and looked out the window at the desert that surrounded us. A few hours ago we had turned off I-40 at Winslow and we'd been travelling on a little two lane highway that was in desperate need of repaving.

Ranger patted my knee, "Proud of you Babe."

I smiled at him and then returned my focus to outside of the vehicle.

The desert outside my window seemed to go on forever. Sand and hard packed clay mingled with scrub brush and juniper. It was desolate, and yet it had a beauty I can't describe. The high flat topped mountains that stretched for miles were like silent sentinels, their only duty to protect and oversee the valleys below.

I must have allowed the passing scenery to hypnotize me, because the sun was quite a bit lower in the sky when Ranger slowed the car and took a right turn onto a barely discernable track. Glancing around I tried to pick up any distinguishable land marks but could find none. The realization that Ranger must really know this area was sudden but all encompassing. How else would he have found the wagon wheel like dirt track we were now following?

Something though was bugging me, and it had been since I spotted Scrog in the bed Ranger and I had shared. How on earth did he know we were there? Something was going on and I definitely wanted answers. As soon as the thought crossed my mind my body was in action swinging quickly toward Ranger.

My sudden movement must have startled Ranger because his hands jerked on the wheel and I heard Tank mutter something under his breath.

"You told me that Scrog knew I was in Vegas. How did he know I had moved from Jersey to Vegas? Better yet, how did he know I was in Virginia?" I asked, well okay I demanded.

Ranger blinked once, twice before settling his face into his very familiar and completely unwelcome blankness. "We will discuss this later." His voice was firm and when I opened my mouth to push the issue he barked out. "Not now Stephanie!"

I continued to look at him for a moment before I bit my lip and looked away, hurt. In the deepest, darkest recesses of my brain doubt reared its ugly head again. _See _it said _you're really not important to him. If you were anything more than just a pain in the ass duty he would share information with you. But no, you are not important so you don't need to know anything. _I could feel my eyes start to fill with tears, so I closed them completely. Hunching my shoulders and turning my body in the seat until my back faced him. I wished at that moment, desperately for a girl friend to talk to.

I ground my teeth together I hated that I had let my guard down and that he had been able to slip past my defenses and kick me again. Okay so maybe I was taking it too far to heart, but I needed this little reminder that to Joe, Ranger, and all these men; I used to be and probably still was an incompetent pain in the ass. Maybe instead of pouting I should be grateful for the reminder of my status. Yes, I was a pain in their collective asses, and right now they wanted or needed to keep me safe but my reality was still the same as when I ran from Jersey to begin with. This time I swore to myself I would pay more attention and keep a tighter guard on my heart. After all when this ended with Scrog in a body bag if I and I suspected many others had their way; I would be returning to Las Vegas the land of the baking sun.

Tank leaned forward and put his face in the space between my head rest and the door. "Steph," he said in a whisper. "He will tell you later. Ranger doesn't want to scare Julie, he's angry that none of us caught it." Then he sat back again and left me to my thoughts.

Hmm, so maybe I still had a small, okay big problem with insecurity but in all honesty you can't expect something like that to just disappear. I heard Ranger sigh, and loosened my shoulders; I know that he and Tank were reading my body language which even I knew screamed upset. Taking a deep breath I worked on relaxing my muscles and adjusting my thought focus. Slowly I shifted in my seat until I was sitting with my back against the seat even though I continued to look out the window.

Ranger's hand rested briefly on my knee and gave a squeeze before returning to the steering wheel. I chose to interpret the gesture to mean he understood I was upset and we'd discuss it later.

As we came over a small hill I caught a glimpse of a house not very obvious unless you got this close. Ranger took a curve and suddenly there it was, built into the side of hill its true size well masked. The stucco walls were painted almost the same color as the dirt of the landscape perhaps just a shade lighter. Even the terracotta roof tiles seemed to have been deliberately chosen to blend in with the surroundings.

A garage door I hadn't noticed before opened and Ranger pulled in and parked. No one moved to get out until the garage door closed behind us. I looked around noticing three other dusty SUVs parked in the garage. I really hoped that this house was larger than it looked and had a basement otherwise we would all be tripping over each other.

I blinked and suddenly Lester was at my door opening it and offering me a hand to help me down. He pulled me in for a quick hug before letting go. "It'll be alright." He whispered in my ear.

Apparently my vulnerable feelings were on display for everyone to see.


	15. Chapter 15

Not mine, nope don't own them. I'm still just a poor college student.

I ran as hard as I could, across the dusty desert. I was still in view of the house, and I wished I wasn't. The need to be alone and think was overwhelming. However; I knew that if I were to stray too far, I would be surrounded and taken back to the house. After returning to the house I would not be allowed to leave it again. I sighed and slowed to a fast walk, taking a few moments to cool down before finding a rock to sit on. The view from my rock was expansive; I could see for miles in any direction.

My thoughts flew in many directions, but they all circled the knowledge that I myself had been physically bugged. That was how Scrog knew where I was when no one else did. He had injected me with a tracker chip like I was a dog. It was so insulting, and I was pissed. He'd better hope that when we met there were other people around, cause otherwise I was likely to kill him with my bare hands.

Ranger's approach was very quiet, but I felt his presence. He sat down next to me on the rock. His hand reached out for mine, and after a second of thought I placed my hand in his.

"Babe, I know you're pissed." He said. "But you can't go off after him."

"I'm not stupid." I protested hotly, "but we both know he'll find his way here eventually. And when he does I'm gonna kick his ass!"

"No Babe." He said and the look in his eye was deadly serious. "You are not going after him. Promise me right now, that you won't start a fight with him!"

He was clearly upset, but so was I. For all his posturing he was just the same as everyone else. Poor, pitiful Stephanie; apparently I was stupid and helpless. It was part of the reason I left, and damn it I wasn't going to take it anymore. Before I'd thought my actions through I was jumping to my feet. Ranger half a step behind me I turned to him, face to face our toes touching.

"No!" I yelled. "I will not agree to stay at home and play Susie Homemaker. I am an intelligent and competent adult and its time the people around me treated me that way!"

Ranger's eyes widened slightly at my words.

"Babe," he said. "I.."

But I didn't let him finish. "No! Don't you Babe me. I didn't start this shit. If you wanted me to stay put and behave then you should have left me in my home!"

I turned around stomped off, surprised at my daring and waiting for him to yell at me. Worse yet, for him to grab me and drag me back again.

"Stephanie Michelle! Turn your ass around and take yourself inside that house right now!" Ranger's voice was no less scary for its lack of volume.

I turned and glared at him for all I was worth. It was at that moment that I saw our audience. I sighed fighting my rage. Once again I was entertainment for the masses. I could feel the blush heat my cheeks, and I gritted my teeth. I could see Lester and Tank looking at me with and almost soft kindness. Their pity just made me angrier, so I stomped past everyone and into the house. I walked down the terra cotta tiled hallway looking for a place I could be alone.

"Oh look it's the runaway skank." Joyce's voice grated across my fried nerves.

I took a deep breath and kept walking, doing my best to ignore her. Behind me Joyce called to me again heckling and harassing me. I reached an open door on the right and entered. I slammed the door on her voice with a defiant bang. Only to wish that I hadn't, I had no luck today. My hideaway was the laundry room. It was a decent size but still, hadn't I just said I wouldn't sit at home and be a homemaker? I took a seat at a built in folding table staring at the door for a long while.

At least half an hour passed, before I became desperately bored. But I didn't want to give anyone the satisfaction of sheepishly sulking back out to find somewhere else to hide. My Mom had always found some measure of peace in doing the laundry; it couldn't hurt to try right? And everyone needs clean clothes right? Shrugging my shoulders I stood up and began to separate the clothes into piles. The basket that was clearly Joyce's I left. She could her do her own damn laundry. Since I was going to be there for a while I decided to leave my clothes for last. I started with Ranger's clothes—yes I was still pissed at him—but it was my penance for behaving like a child.

It was quiet and peaceful in my self-imposed exile. I had plenty of time to think, and I had come to several conclusions. No matter how frustrated I was, I had no right to act like a kid while demanding that Ranger treat me like an adult. Ranger had not meant that I should stay at home like a child; he simply wanted me safe, just like he always had. My going off half cocked chasing after Scrog wasn't going to help anyone, least of all myself. In fact most likely it would end up with an injury or death on my part. Hmm, this adult stuff is so much easier in the laundry room by myself. I quietly worked my way through Ranger's, Tank's, Lester's and Bobby's laundry before I found my center, it was then that I decided to work on my own laundry and let someone else worry about the rest.

Perhaps if the rest of the laundry (minus Joyce's) was still there in the morning, I might take care of a few more loads. As I was considering that, there was a soft knock at the door. I took a deep breath before opening it. Cal and Hal were on the other side.

"Ms. Plum we wanted to bring you something to eat and drink." Hal said. "Would you like some company or do you wanna be alone some more?"

I smiled these two weren't the brightest tools in the shed, but they were truly good guys.


End file.
